


Freak

by MacBean



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-30
Updated: 2010-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-12 07:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/122553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacBean/pseuds/MacBean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>The people he'd heard call Sherlock a freak, he realized, were never strangers, who were easier to ignore. It was always people who'd had time to get to know him.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Freak

"Don't call me that."

Sherlock's voice was quiet, the tone unfamiliar, so John wasn't sure he'd heard him correctly. "Sorry?"

"I said, don't call me that."

It took John a moment even to recall what he'd said. "What, 'freak'?" He peered over the top of his newspaper into the kitchen to see if Sherlock was serious. His attention was still focused on the experiment on the table in front of him. John frowned. "I was only joking, I didn't really mean it."

"Yes, I know. Still. Please don't."

John had heard at least half a dozen people call Sherlock a freak without comment or any other reaction from the man. In fact, sometimes he seemed to answer to it almost like a bizarre pet name. After the first couple times, it never occurred to John that it might really bother Sherlock.

"All right, I won't," John promised, "but ... you shouldn't let it bother you, you know. You're not a freak."

One of Sherlock's eyebrows quirked upward. "Am I not?" he asked, reaching across the table and pulling a file closer. He studied the top sheet in the folder, still treating the conversation as background noise.

"No, you're just ... you know. Unconventional."

"If you care to consult the dictionary, I'm fairly certain you'll find exactly that word somewhere in the definition of 'freak,'" Sherlock answered, his face a blank mask, giving nothing away. "Besides, even if it weren't true, you've no room to tell anyone not to let things bother them. We're not dating and you take exception every time someone thinks or implies that we are. And 'gay,' even when you're not, is -- or at least ought to be -- far less insulting than 'freak.'"

John couldn't argue with that so he just gave Sherlock a grunt of acknowledgment and went back to his newspaper. He tried to concentrate on the article but he kept reading the same sentence over and over while his mind wandered elsewhere. The people he'd heard call Sherlock a freak, he realized, were never strangers, who were easier to ignore. It was always people who'd had time to get to know him. Once it had even been Mycroft in an less direct way, calling one of Sherlock's habits (John couldn't recall which anymore) "freakish." And Mycroft claimed to actually _care_ about Sherlock. John couldn't imagine what it must feel like to have the people who knew you the best always treat you the worst. Frowning, he lowered the paper again.

"Sherlock?"

"Yes, John?" He kept his eyes on his experiment.

" _Sherlock_."

Blinking in surprise at the tacit command in John's voice, Sherlock obeyed and looked up. John met and held his gaze for a moment to make sure he had Sherlock's undivided attention and then said firmly, "You're not a freak."

Sherlock's eyes dropped back to the flasks and Petri dishes and pipettes in front of him but he stayed perfectly still. John just watched, measuring the silence by Sherlock's blinking. One... Two... Three...

"Thank you," Sherlock murmured and went back to work.


End file.
